


Tony Is Not Sick

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [15]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Chapter two, Chicken Soup, Helicopter Mentor Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, I Love You, Pepper Cares, Peter Needs to Take Care of Everyone, Peter is a Good Nurse, Platonic Cuddling, Precious Peter Parker, Sick Character, Sick Peter Paker, Sick Tony Stark, Sickfic, Sleepy Cuddles, The Flu is Going Around, Tony Doesn't Do 'Sick', Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor, Tony is a good mentor, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-06-25 17:12:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19750156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: May and Pepper are both out of Town and Tony is supposed to be taking care of Peter.  Except when Tony ends up getting the flu, everything winds up going the other way around... until Peter ends up sick too.  Then Tony is there and now he knows exactly what to do to help.





	1. Letting it Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is not sick... okay, maybe he is... a little but he doesn't need anyone to look after him. He'd an adult, for crying out loud. Unless that person is Peter of course because he can't say no to Peter. So, if allowing himself to be coddled by his kid is what he needs to do keep said, kid, happy... so be it.

Tony woke up feeling lousy. Of course, he'd gone to bed feeling lousy too. Then again, he often went to bed and woke up feeling lousy, however this time it was different. Rather than feeling groggy and annoyed, he felt achy and annoyed. That wouldn't have been so much of a problem except it was Friday and Peter was coming over to stay for the entire weekend. He couldn't even get out of it. ...not that he wanted to. May was going out of town and Pepper was on a business trip. That left all of the baby-sittings up to him. Though, it wasn't so much that Peter needed babysitting as much as no one quite trusted an enhanced kid who had access to a tech-filled super-suit to not overdo it. Without _some amount of supervision_ , he was liable to swing all over the city at all hours, skipping meals and ignoring his homework. That and he actually liked having the kid around.

Thankful that the kid was at least capable of taking care of himself and all he had to do was be there to enforce the rules, Tony groaned and rolled over to go back to sleep. Maybe whatever it was would go away with a few more hours of sleep. Peter wasn't even going to be there until after three. 

It wasn't until FRIDAY woke him up sometime later to inform him that Pepper had been trying to reach him, that he realized how bad he actually felt. "Tony?", Pepper's voice rang out into the room.

"Yeah? I'm here.", Tony exhaustedly replied as he sat up and ran his hands down his face. At some point, while he was sleeping he'd gone from feeling lousy to feeling like absolute garbage. His throat was sore, his nose was stuffed up and the pressure in his head was so strong that he was sure it was going to crack his skull.

"Why are you still asleep? It's after two. Are you okay?", Pepper asked with deep concern. It wasn't like Tony to lay around in bed all day. It was hard enough to get him into a bed at night.

"Hmm?", Tony hummed in question before her words finally unjumbled themselves in his head and he was able to process them properly. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Absolutely peachy." He wasn't but he figured if he kept telling himself that it would eventually be true.

"You sound awful.", Pepper observed with sympathy. 

Nodding his head slightly, Tony continued to rub his hands over his aching forehead. "Thanks, Dear. I appreciate it.", he grumbled.

After a moment of quiet contemplation Pepper finally spoke up again. "Are you sure you can handle having Peter there being sick like that?" Tony didn't get sick often but when he did he tended to hole himself up somewhere to 'ride out his misery in peace'. There would be nothing peaceful about having Peter in the house for the weekend and she briefly wondered if she should try to come home but she didn't want to make any promises. 

"I'm fine and the kid's sixteen not three. He basically takes care of himself I just have to stick around and make sure he doesn't do anything completely stupid.", Tony groused. "...also, _I'm not sick."_

"FRIDAY says otherwise.", Pepper replied with mirth as she looked down at the vitals being sent to her phone. "Apparently, you have a fever of one-hundred-and--"

"--Stop.", Tony cut her off with a mild shout. "If I don't know about it, it's not real. _I'm not sick_. ... don't you have some work to do or something?" He wasn't sick, he was annoyed that Pepper kept accusing him of being sick. That was all.

"Actually, I do. I just wanted to call and check on you.", Pepper sighed out.

" _I'm fine_.", Tony insisted once again.

"Obviously.", Pepper blandly agreed before allowing the concern to seep into her voice. "Just... call me if you need anything, alright?"

" _I'm fine_. I'll talk to you later. Go... go to a meeting or something.", Tony irritably suggested before actively stopping himself from hanging up on his already concerned wife.

"Bye, Tony. Feel better.", Pepper replied, knowing she wasn't going to get any further in this conversation. Besides, he was a grown man, it would all be fine.

" _I'm not sick!!_ "

~o~o~o~o~o~

By the time he finally made it into the shower and down to be lab he could no longer deny it. He was definitely sick. He could hardly swallow and even squinting his eyes wasn't enough to keep the light from burning into his retinas. Upon FRIDAY's suggestion, he tossed back a couple of fever reducers with a cold bottle of water and laid his head on his desk to wait it out. But what felt like the second he'd closed his eye's he heard the doors slide open and a pair of overly excited feet slapping their way across the floor towards him. "Hey, Kid.", he called out with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. 

"Hey, Tony! Guess what?", Peter called out loudly enough to make the man flinch. The action, unfortunately, wasn't missed and Peter paused in his steps. "Are, are you okay?", he asked with trepidation as he looked his mentor over. He'd seen the man look tired before but this was something entirely different. He was pale and looked pained. "Are you sick?"

"I'm not sick", Tony grumpily strained even though he knew he absolutely was. There was no getting around it.

Peter walked slowly towards where the man was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and gently placed his hand on Tony's forehead. "You feel warm.", Peter kindly informed as he brought his hand from the man's forehead down to his shoulder. "Why don't we just go upstairs? You should lay down."

Cracking an eye to get a good look at the kid who instead of bouncing off the walls as he normally would be in the lab, was being as calm and quiet as possible out of consideration, Tony quietly groaned. "It's Friday, kid. Friday is lab day. We still need to go over that new web-shooter design.", Tony mumbled, unconsciously reaching a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose in an attempt to ease the pain. 

Peter smiled softly and gave the man's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "That can wait. I don't mind, Tony. If you're sick then you should rest. That's what you always tell me."

"Yeah, well, I'm not sick.", Tony muttered before a cough erupted from his throat with such force that he had to lean forward, Peter's hand never breaking contact. "Okay, fine. Maybe I'm _a little sick_." 

"I pretty sure you're more than a little sick, Tony. Is it your throat?", Peter suggested as he took the man by the hand to pull him out of the chair. 

Tony hummed in acknowledgment and allowed himself to be tugged from his perfectly comfortable swivel chair with a sigh. It wasn't until they got to the elevator that Tony realized that Peter had yet to let go of his hand. His lips quirked up in a small smile and he clutched the hand holding onto his a bit more tightly. Though, he regretted his decision to do so as Peter blushed and rapidly dropped his hold on him. "sorry.", Peter uttered under his breath.

"You're fine, kid.", Tony said as he reached out and grabbed back ahold of the hand that was now hanging loosely at Peter's side. He didn't know why but anyone ever asked he'd blame the fever. 

Once they were upstairs, Tony considered disappearing into his room but when he started towards the door Peter called him. "Tony? Do you want me to make you some tea? May always makes me tea when I have a sore throat." 

Tony sighed heavily. He wanted nothing more than to shut himself up in his room until he felt human again but Peter was there and for some reason, he felt like that changed everything. Pausing he turned around to look down the hall. "Sure, kid. I'm just going to change into something more comfortable.", he called out quietly. Once Peter had nodded and crossed into the kitchen Tony dropped his head on to the door frame for a few seconds before going to do what he's said he was going to do. However, once he'd pulled on the sweat pants, his bed looked entirely too inviting and he flopped down onto it, telling himself that it was only for a moment.

"Tony?", Peter called through the crack of the master bedroom door causing Tony to snap his eyes open. It hadn't been his intention to fall asleep. 

Sitting up, Tony groaned. The pain his head had increased tenfold in his horizontal position. "Sorry, kid. I'm coming.", he strained as he tried to swallow back the burning sensation that was coating the entirety of his throat, causing his voice to rasp. He swayed on his feet as he stood but easily steadied himself on the bedside table before casually making his way back to the living room.

"Here's your tea, Tony.", Peter said quietly as he offered the man the warm mug. "I put some honey in it. It's supposed to help."

"Thanks, Buddy.", Tony offered as weakly took the mug, Peter holding it steady until he could get both hands on it. Taking a sip of the warm liquid, he couldn't help but sigh. It was surprisingly soothing. After taking a few more sips, he set the mug down on the coffee table and leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes. He would have dozed off right there if it weren't for the throbbing ache behind his eyes.

Seeing the man's face scrunched up in discomfort, Peter disappeared down the hall to collect pillows and a blanket from the hall closet. When he returned with his arms full of linen's Tony raised a questioning eyebrow but made no effort to actually say anything. Mostly because it would hurt. "Here, Tony. I got you some pillows and a blanket so that you could be comfortable out here. Then I can get you whatever you need.", Peter reasoned as he started to set the pillows down at the head of the couch beside where Tony sat. 

It wasn't until then that it fully clicked that Peter was trying to take care of him and he wasn't sure how to handle that. He's never allowed anyone to take care of him before. Not even Pepper really. He was perfectly capable of looking after himself. Had been for years but something about Peter's innocent concern made him feel like he needed to accept the coddling for Peter's benefit more so than his own. "Thank's, kid. I don't know what I would do without you.", Tony said, bringing a smile to Peter's face solidified every thought that had just gone through his head. If Peter needed to take care of him to feel better about the situation, then he could suck it up and deal with it.

By the time, Tony had finished his cup of tea and was lowering himself onto the makeshift bed in the living room, Peter was already offering an assortment of other remedies. "Maybe a nap.", Tony suggested using every bit of strength he had to keep his voice gentle. Anyone else would have been snapped at and sent out of the room by now but he couldn't do that to Peter. Well, he _wouldn't_ do that to Peter. It was ingrained into the kid that he needed to help people and the last thing Tony wanted to do was hurt his feelings.

"That's probably a good idea.", Peter said with a sheepish smile as he settled himself down onto the large chair beside the couch with a book he'd pulled out of his backpack. 

Tony watched Peter for several seconds before closing his eyes but was unable to sleep as it seemed that every time he was just about to drift off the itch in his throat would become too much and he'd end up coughing. Then that would lead to a burst of pain shooting through his head. It was getting to the point that nausea was starting to set in but he wasn't sure he could move.

Peter seemed to notice after a while and sighed. "Have you taken any medicine, Tony?"

"I took some pain killers earlier.", Tony mumbled towards the ceiling. He could quite bring himself to turn his head. He was concerned that if he did, it would hurt his head or make him vomit, probably both. 

A short while later Peter looked beside him only to find that Tony was still awake and looking miserable where he lay. "Are you going to throw up, Tony?"

"Maybe.", Tony breathed out honestly. It wasn't like he was going to be able to hide it. However, saying it out loud seemed to be all the encouragement his body needed to make it so as he started to cough so harshly that he began to gag before he could even consider getting up to run to the toilet. This sent Peter into a frenzy as he darted into across the room in order to grab the small trashcan that sat beside one of the end tables, thrusting it into his mentor hands just in time.

As Tony continued to heave into the can, Peter wandered into the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water and a washcloth from under the sink. "Here, Tony, you can rinse your mouth out.", Peter said gently as he handed the small cup over to his glossy-eyed mentor before proceeding to lean in and wipe off his face. "Sorry, I guess you can do that your self.", Peter nervously laughed when Tony lightly grabbed ahold of his hand and took control of the cloth, continuing to wipe away the evidence of his stomach's rebellion. "I'm going to go get you some more medicine."

Tony nodded his head because it felt as if the bile had burned holes along his esophagus and he wasn't keen on trying to speak again just yet. He heard FRIDAY guiding the boy towards the master bathroom and identifying the cold and flu medicine he'd refused to take that morning out of pure denial. Though, now he wished he had. Maybe he wouldn't be feeling quite so bad and wouldn't be ruining his weekend alone with the kid. 

Peter returned moments later carrying the box of tablets that FRIDAY had suggested and came to stand in front of where Tony was still sitting. "Here you go, Tony. The box says you should take two. Do you want me to get you some more water?"

"Sure, Kid.", Tony replied as he once again brought his hands up to his aching head. He vaguely wondered if the pressure was from his sinuses or the fever. Whatever it was, hopefully, the medication would take care of it because he had things to do. Like, hang out with his kid doing science. "Thanks.", Tony mumbled when a bottle of water was set on the table before him. He swallowed half of it down along with the tablet and lowered himself back onto the couch. Then, just as he closed his eyes he felt a hand fall upon his head, brushing the fringe of his hair off of his forehead before slightly startling as the warm touch was replaced by a cool and damp cloth.

"Sorry. I thought maybe your head might be hurting too. This might help.", Peter whispered sweetly.

It took a while for the medication to kick in but as soon as it did, Tony fell asleep. Just deep enough to be restful but not so much so that he was unaware of the fact that Peter was periodically replacing the cloth over his eyes, an act that he found rather endearing. The next time he woke enough to feel fully aware of his surroundings, he actually felt marginally better. The burn in his throat had eased up and the throbbing behind his eyes was dulled down to a mild ache. 

"Are you feeling any better, Tony?", Peter softly asked from the chair once he realized that his mentor's eyes were on him. "It's almost seven. You've been asleep a long time." 

Sitting up and carefully clearing his throat, Tony thought about the implications of the time. "Did you eat?", he hoarsely questioned. It was his job to make sure the kid ate this weekend and here it was well after six and he didn't even know if the kid had eaten a snack after school. _Way to go._

"No. Well, not like dinner or anything.", Peter said indicating the cereal bar wrappers and empty soda cans still sitting on the coffee table. "I wanted to wait for you. I didn't know if you would feel like eating and ...maybe we could order some soup or something. That's what I always went when I'm sick." As Tony sat up and looked at him from across the way, Peter got up and cautiously fell beside him on the couch, settling soundingly into the man's overly warm side. 

"Sure, kiddo. Order me some soup but get whatever _you want_ for you, alright?", Tony murmured, still feeling somewhat guilty for ruining the night. He knew Peter had been looking forward to spending the weekend with him and now here he was completely out of commission. Sighing, he wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders and smiled at him. "I know Friday is usually our pizza night. You could still order that, you know."

"Soup is fine, Tony. I don't mind, I like it.", Peter replied with a small smile. He didn't really care about the pizza. It was one of his favorite things but really, what he'd been looking forward to was, spending time with Tony. He didn't care how and he was actually kind of enjoying the idea of taking care of him instead of the other way around for once. "Oh, and you should take some more medicine the box says every four hours so it's almost time."

"Thanks, Buddy.", Tony said as he leaned forward to get the box from the table. Then seeing how happy the praise seemed to make Peter he decided to make another request. "Do you think you could make me some more of that tea from earlier?", he asked as he leaned back heavily on the couch with a small cough. Even after a nap, he felt exhausted and his body ached from head to tow. He could swear that even his hair hurt. 

"Mm-hmm.", Peter readily agreed with a smile. It didn't take long for him to return a hot mug of tea and place it into Tony's waiting hands. He'd not finished even half of the mug before his body felt too heavy to hold its self up any longer and he had to abandon the beverage in favor of laying back down. The second he did, he felt Peter's hand once again, rest on his forehead. "You feel really hot, Tony.", Peter worriedly uttered. "Should I go find a thermometer or something?"

"That's not necessary. Just ask FRIDAY.", The man mumbled just before another cough shook through his whole body causing him to once again gag into the trash can, though this time there wasn't much to bring up. "I'm sorry, kid. You shouldn't have to be doing this. I should go back into my own room.", Tony said as Peter handed him a washcloth and took the trash can from his hands to once again replace the liner. "You can watch a movie or something. Just make sure you get to bed on time."

"I like helping you, Tony.", Peter said with more anxiety than he'd meant to. He didn't want Tony to be alone. Not when he was there and more than willing to help take care of him. It was only fair. The man had taken care of him, what felt like, a hundred times over. He wanted to do this. "You don't have to be by yourself."

Not having the heart to tell the kid that being by himself was exactly what he wanted, Tony drank some water and lay back down. "Fine. But you're still going to bed by midnight."

Peter nodded in agreement and curled back up in the chair to read until their dinner arrived and at some point, he glanced over and saw the man, shivering in his sleep. That was enough to remind him that he'd wanted to ask FRIDAY about the man's temperature and whispered the request. When the AI came back saying that it was over one-hundred and two he started to become concerned that this was turning into something more serious but FRIDAY assured him it was nothing more than the seasonal flu.

When the food arrived several minutes later he was hesitant about whether or not to wake the man up. However before he really had time to fully decide, Tony was coughing himself awake. "Are you okay, Tony?", Peter asked hesitantly once the man had settled back down.

As bad as he felt, he could practically taste the kid's anxiety from where he sat. " _I'm fine_ , kid. Should probably take more of those pills--", he started to explain before going into yet another coughing fit. "--Probably threw up the other ones."

"Yeah. Maybe.", Peter replied. "Do you feel like eating? I got some chicken soup from the deli we like."

"Maybe a little bit.", Tony sighed out. He hadn't really eaten anything all day. Maybe it would help. If nothing else maybe it would keep his body from trying to turn his stomach inside out every time he heaved. 

Peter was soon back in the room with a small bowl of the promised soup and a bottle of sprite. Tony accepted it all with gratitude but Peter couldn't help but notice how the man's hands were shaking. He'd never seen the engineer as anything but strong and steady and it was almost frightening. "Would it be easier in a mug?", Peter asked after watching Tony spill half of what was on his spoon down his chin for the third time.

Sighing because he didn't have the energy to complain, Tony handed over the bowl so that it could be transferred into the more easily managed vessel. However, even then he only finished half of it before setting it aside and resting his head on the back of the couch as Peter finished his third bowl. "Thanks, Buddy.", He tiredly slurred when Peter walked out of the room to clear the dishes.

When Peter returned, Tony was asleep again but instead of laying down he was reclined in the corner of the couch with the blanket tucked under his chin. Once the dishes were clean and the leftovers put away, Peter didn't know what else to do so he got ready for bed and snuggled up beside him under the blanket. He had just dozed off himself when Pepper walked in the front door. "Peter?", she whispered when she walked around to the front of the couch and saw the sleeping pair.

"Hmm?", Peter hummed in response as he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes. He'd not meant to nap like that but then again he tended to stay up so late so often that maybe his body was taking this as an opportunity to catch up.

"Are you okay? You're not sick are you?", Pepper asked in surprise as he leaned in to run her hand down Peter's cheek.

"Hm-mm. No, I'm fine. Just tired.", Peter said as he unintentionally leaned into her hand. "Tony's sick though."

"I know. I talked to him this morning, that's why I'm back so early.", Pepper explained. Then as she started looking around her she wondered if canceling all of her meetings was even necessary. Tony wasn't locked in his room and Peter wasn't out running all over the city until way too late in the evening. "Has he been letting you take care of him?"

"Mm-hmm", Peter tiredly replied, still making no effort to peel himself away from the warm position he was in at the man's side. "Why?"

"No reason. Look, it's after ten if you want to go to bed you can. I've got it from here.", Pepper offered but Peter still made no effort to get up. 

"He's thrown up twice and only ate a little bit of dinner. Oh, and his next dose of cold medicine is due in an hour or something.", Peter yawned. "FRIDAY's supposed to remind us."

Looking quizzically between Tony and Peter, Pepper smiled. "You got him to take cold medicine?"

At that, Tony opened one eye and looked towards his wife. "Stop talking about me like, I'm not here.", Tony croaked, his voice still raw and painful.

"You're awake?", Pepper asked with a laugh. 

"I've been awake.", Tony admitted with a sigh. "I need to pee but the kid fell asleep on me."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Tony--", Peter hurriedly spoke as he slowly tried to get the blanket off of himself so that he could move out of the man's way. 

"It's fine.", Tony assured before realizing the kid had tiredly kicked off the blanket but hadn't actually gotten off of him yet. "...maybe let me up though."

Once Peter was no longer leaning on him, Tony started down the hall and Pepper and took Peter by the shoulder. "Thanks for taking such good care of him Peter.", she said with a smile. "He's usually not this cooperative when he's sick. Typically, he hides in his room or the lab and yells at anyone who comes near him.--"

"--I can still hear you!", Tony interjected from the hall bathroom causing him to cough and groan as it hurt his already painful throat.

Lowering her voice so that only Peter could hear she smiled. "He loves you."

"Do you really think so?", Peter asked as he shifted on his feet. He wanted to believe that was true. He certainly loved Tony but neither of them had ever been brave enough to admit it.

"I know so.", Pepper whispered in return as Tony started to shuffle back down the hall. "Right, Tony?"

"Huh?", the man asked in confusion. While the second dose of medication was definitely working he still didn't feel great and now he was pretty he'd missed something important.

"Just say yes.", Pepper said with a smirk as both Peter and Tony resumed their positions on the couch.

"Okay...", Tony drawled. "Yes."

Even though Peter knew that the man had no idea what he'd just agreed to, he leaned over and hugged him as best he could from the position they were cuddled in. "I love you too."

At that, Tony shot a quick glare at Pepper before giving in and smiling. Then, readjusting himself so that he could lay his cheek down on the top of Peter's head, he sighed contentedly. He'd planned to squeeze an awful lot of things into the weekend but telling the kid he loved him and then spending the night snuggled up together on the couch hadn't been on the list. Yet, there they were and Tony knew that from here on out, those two things would become a priority. ...except next time he wouldn't be sick.


	2. Returning the Favor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up sick but figures he should go ahead and go to school anyway. May has to work and he'll be fine... until he's not. It's a good thing Tony was paying attention while being taken care of because now he knows exactly what to do.

Despite the annoyingly fond looks, Pepper kept sending his way, Tony spent the remainder of the weekend, on the couch. For the most part anyway. He would still go to his own bed every night and then stay there as long as possible in the morning. Peter continued to alternate between laying beside him, watching television and making sure that he had everything he could possibly need to feel comfortable. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't mind gestures. Not from Peter anyway. He still felt the need to run Pepper off every time she came near him with a bottle of cough syrup or tried to touch his forehead. 

By Monday morning when Tony got up to see Peter off to school, was feeling mostly like himself again. He was still tired and had a residual cough but the fever had long since subsided and he'd found himself easily eating dinner the night before. "Are you sure you're okay, Tony? I can come back here, I don't think May would mind if I stayed an extra night...", Peter hesitantly spoke before walking out the door that morning.

"I'm fine, Pete. I haven't had a fever in over twenty-four hours and I ate last night. It's just a cough. Go to school, do your spider thing and get home to your aunt. I'll bet she missed you." Peter nodded in return and bid his good-bye's before rushing to meet Happy so that he could get a ride to school. 

~o~o~o~o~o~

Later that week, on Wednesday morning, Peter woke up feeling... off. He was sluggish, sore and _maybe_ even a little cranky because the smallest things seemed to be getting on his nerves. From the sound of his alarm to the neighbor's cat trying to trip him up on the stairs. He'd even had to make a point of leaving early to avoid arguing with his aunt because she was inevitably going to try to force more unwanted breakfast down his throat. He'd only eaten a banana and some puffed rice cereal but he just wan't hungry and it wasn't like he'd not eaten anything at all...

Leaving early meant getting to school early. So, once he got there he still had half an hour until classes began. As such he decided to go into the library to lay his head down on a desk. For some reason, his typical seven hours of sleep didn't seem to be enough and he had felt his eyelids drooping on the ride there. Seating himself in the very back of the room so no one would bother him ended up being a problem. That particular area was a decent distance from the intercom therefore, he accidentally slept right through the first and second bells of the day.

When he did finally wake it was because his throat was suddenly on fire and his head was feeling so stuffy that for several seconds, he couldn't even sort out what he was doing in the library in the first place. Once it all came back to him, he jumped up as quickly as his aching body would allow and ran towards his first-period class without ever checking the time. "Mr. Parker?", the teacher asked when he bolted through the door. "What are you doing here and where were you last period?"

Suddenly dread filled Peter's chest as he looked at the clock on the wall and swallowed. "I... I uh...", was all he managed to get out. There was really no good explanation for this. "I got confused. Sorry.", he finished lamely before slipping out the door. Apparently, the second Period had started several minutes ago.

On his way towards the correct class, Peter ran into an administrator who naturally wanted to see his hall pass. When he didn't have one, he was escorted to the office where it was discovered that he'd been counted as absent for his morning class and was clearly not seated in his second one. That led into a speech about how arriving late to school was irresponsible and that if it happened again, he needed to come straight to the office to sign in and get a pass. Peter tried to explain that he'd been there the whole time and simply lost track of time in the library but apparently, that was the wrong to say. It made it sound like he'd skipped class and rather than merely missed it by being late and Peter's brain felt far too fuzzy to explain it any further. Not that he even wanted to. The last thing he wanted was for May to get called to pick him an hour into her morning shift.

"I think maybe we should give your guardian a call, Peter. This isn't like you. You don't typically skip classes.", the man said with concern.

"You don't need to do that. I got to school early and I messed up. It's not a big deal--"

"--It is a big deal, Peter. You skipped class and thought you could get away with it. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"No.", Peter said with sagging shoulders. He would let them call May, he'd rather she be mad at him for skipping class than for her to have to leave work when it became clear that he was _definitely_ sick. It was getting to the point that, on top of everything else, his stomach was starting to feel uneasy. As sat in the chair in the front office waiting for further instructions, he closed his eyes as he tried to breathe through some of the pain radiating through his joints and settling his head and throat.

When the man came back to inform him that he was unable to reach his aunt and would be attempting to get ahold of his secondary contact to pick him up Peter froze. He'd been trying to avoid getting picked up at all but apparently willfully skipping class meant you were sent home. It seemed counterproductive, really. It didn't seem like much of a punishment to be told you didn't have to go to class after getting in trouble for not going to class but all he could do was nod his head. He knew this was bad. They were going to call Tony and the man wasn't going to allow him to explain anything. He was going to assume he'd messed with the code in his suit and gone out that morning. He was going to _yell._

~o~o~o~o~o~

As predicted, Tony came into the office thirty minutes later, already glowering at him. That look combined with his general misery was enough to make him want to cry but he didn't. He simply grabbed his things and followed the man out to his car. "I'm sorry, Tony.", he croaked. It had sounded as if he was on the verge of tears but that wasn't the case. It was more so the fact that his throat was so tight and painful that it made his voice crack.

"You skipped class, kid. You should be sorry.", Tony said from the driver's side of the car as he put the car into gear. "Then when I went to check your suit, I got nothing. Not one vital. Not one location. Not even a singular minute of video feed. What did you do? Never mind, don't answer that yet. I'm not done--"

"--It's not like that.", Peter interjected because it wasn't he was sick. He knew he was sick and he wished he'd just told his school that because he already felt awful and now he was getting in trouble for something he didn't even do. Only he wasn't getting yelled at as he'd expected. Instead, Tony sounded... disappointed. 

After being scolded for interrupting, Peter sat quietly as the man continued to reprimand him about safety protocols, curfews, and _trust._ That one hurt the most. It made his stomach flip... or maybe it was the car ride. He wasn't sure but he suddenly felt his breakfast creeping back up his already painful esophagus. Swallowing a few times managed to get it under control but only for so long.

The second Tony had finished his speech and had just begun to go into how he was going to need to take the suit back for a while in order to fix the code and make it tamper-proof, Peter lost his ability to swallow back the inevitable. "Stop the car and let me out!", he shouted frantically but Tony didn't hear it that way.

"Do you really think that I'm going to just let you out of the car so that you can walk home? You're in trouble, either way, kid. You screwed the up and now you can deal with the consequences. ...and if you think this is bad wait until May finds out. I--"

However, Tony never got to finish his irritable rant. Peter was already vomiting all over his legs, the backpack at his feet and even the dashboard in front of him. He'd been leaning forward trying his hardest to hold it back until he could explain why he needed them to stop but his stomach seemed to have had other plans. Shame filled every fiber of his being as he realized he'd thrown up all over his mentors, _extremely_ expensive car. "I'm sorry.", he panted out before putting a hand over his mouth in hopes of preventing any further damage. 

As Peter had begun to gag, Tony had nearly slammed on the breaks as he tried to maneuver the car to the side of the road. Once at a stop, he was able to survey the damage and it was... significant. His dash was coated in vomit that was still sliding down onto his floorboards, while Peter himself was covered chin to lap in his own mess. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?", he asked in shock, still trying to make sense of the most recent series of events.

"I was going to but you told me not to interrupt.", Peter miserably pointed out. He was going to go on to further explain what had happened but instead, he started to cough which led to more gagging. At least this time he was able to open the door and do so over the grass rather than himself.

Reaching out to rub the boy's back, Tony winced at the heat radiating off of him. "You didn't take the suit out this morning did you...", he said with remorse as Peter sat up again and laid his head back on the seat.

"No.", Peter replied, tears now coming freely. "I fell asleep in the library. I didn't want to get sent home so I said I lost track of time. I didn't know they would think I skipped class and do it anyway."

Already rolling down the windows and steering the car back onto the road, Tony sighed. "We'll talk about _that_ later. Right now let's get back to my place so we can get you taken care of.", he said softly. As he drove off he was inwardly rolling his eyes at the fact that his kid's plan had been to spend the day at school toughing it out. "I suppose this is my fault."

"What? No.", Peter said as he squinted his eyes towards his mentor. "I didn't tell you. I didn't tell anybody."

"I meant that your sick at all, Buddy. You spent all weekend cleaning up after me. I should have stayed in my room."

Peter closed his eyes. He didn't really have the energy required to talk Tony out of his stance but he had to say something. "I wanted to do it.", he said honestly. He would have never been able to allow the man to lock himself up in a room as Pepper had described. It would have sent his anxiety through the roof knowing he could help but wasn't allowed to. 

Not willing to argue with the kid while he was still so uncomfortable, Tony nodded his head and focused on getting home. As they pulled in, he realized that at some point Peter had started shivering beside him. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go get cleaned up. You stink.", he instructed with a small smile.

"Yeah.", Peter agreed with a slight shake to his voice. "I'm sorry about your car, Tony..."

"Eh. It's seen worse...", Tony replied with a smirk as he put his hand on Peter's back to guide him into the building and towards the elevator. 

While the ride up wasn't long, the upward motion made Peter's stomach begin to flip. He was doing alright at first and was able to breathe through the waves of nausea but then he began to cough so hard he couldn't seem to catch his breath. Knowing full well what that was going to lead to, Tony reached over and gently patted Peter's back. "It's alright, kid. Don't fight it. Floors can be cleaned too."

That seemed to be all the permission his stomach needed before his coughing became mostly dry painful heaves. Each one causing the pressure in this head to increase until he thought it might actually burst. "My head hurts, Tony.", Peter complained as they finally stepped into the suite. "...and my stomach... and throat. ...and my... _everything else."_

Laughing at the broad range of ailments the boys was listing off, Tony squeezed his shoulder. "Go shower. I'll track down some medicine and make you some tea.", he offered, remembering the multiple cups of tea the boy had been handing him just days before. "...I'll make you a bed on the couch too."

Clean and dressed in his most comfortable clothes, Peter shuffled down the hall towards the couch that had indeed, been made up into a bed for him. Flopping down onto the pillows, he sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't get to lay there long before Tony appeared with a mug of tea, a bottle of water and an orange bottle that held his specially made, cold medicine. "Alright, kid. I think I have all the basics here. Medicine, water and tea. ... with honey, _because I hear that's supposed to help_."

Peter wearily sat up and thanked the man before another thought crossed his mind. "Tony? Did you call--"

"--I called your aunt and left her a message. Explained everything. Told her you could stay here tonight.", Tony said already reading the boy's mind. "Should I order some soup later? I'm to understand that sick person like soup."

"I like soup.", Peter replied with a weak smile as he sipped at the warm tea. It made his throat feel significantly better and now all he had to do was wait for the medication to dull the rest of his aches and pains.

Tony sat down in the chair beside Peter and pulled out his tablet. "When you're done with that, you should nap.", he said, never looking up from the document he'd pulled up. 

Peter nodded and lay his head down on the pillows. This turn of events had been unexpected. Tony had sewn him up, cleaned his wounds, and plucked him out of precarious situations over and over again but he'd never taken care of him while he was sick before. That was usually May's department... but this was good too and the fact that Tony remembered everything _he'd done for him_ a few days prior felt... nice. "Yeah, I'm tired."

"I know, Buddy.", Tony said with sympathy. He remembered all too well what it felt like to have this particular brand of flu. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Peter slept hard, waking up some hours later to a cool hand gracing his forehead. Whining and leaning into the gentle touch, he cracked his eyes open. "Tony?", he nearly slurred causing the man to frown. "What's wrong?"

"You're still hot but it's almost time for your next round of medicine anyway.", Tony explained as he popped the cap off of the bottle and helped Peter into a sitting position. Taking the medication from his hand, Peter began to cough. As he did so, Tony crossed the room to collect the trash can just in case. Though it ended up being blissfully unnecessary. He wasn't even sure there was anything left to come out of the kid. He hadn't had anything save for a cup of tea for several hours. 

Swallowing down the medication, Peter tried not to whine. The last dose had clearly worn off already and his throat was already back to burning. "Can I have more tea, Tony?", he asked hesitantly. 

"Of course. Be right back.", Tony replied as he hopped up to make a new mug of tea. "It's after two, kid. Are you hungry?"

Taking a moment to evaluate his situation, Peter nodded his head. "I think so."

By the time Peter had slowly sipped down half of the tea he'd been handed, the food had arrived. Remembering his own plight with the spoon, Tony went ahead and poured the kid's serving into a mug. "Here you go, Buddy. There's more where that came from, alright?", he said knowing that on any other day the kid would eat a minimum of three large bowls. 

However, the one small serving seemed to be enough to send Peter's stomach back into knots and he was soon laying back down trying not to jostle it. His efforts were proven fruitless when he began to cough and had to hurridly pull the trash bin up to his mouth. "I'm sorry.", Peter whined in frustration. Tony hadn't thrown up near this much. Though he shouldn't have been surprised. Throwing up seemed to be his body natural response to any kind of illness. Anytime he had a fever of any kind he could count on being sick at least once.

"You're alright. Try to get some more sleep.", Tony suggested as he wiped some stray saliva off of the boy's chin. He'd actually been kind of surprised that the kid let him. Then again Peter had attempted to wipe his face so maybe it was something he was just used to. 

"I need to go to the bathroom first.", Peter sighed out as he stood on shaky legs. Even with spider-powers, this flu was kicking him pretty hard and he had to grab ahold of the arm of the couch as he rounded the first corner.

Frowning at the way the boy was swaying on his feet, Tony went to offer the boy some assistance in getting down the hall. "Come on, Bud. I'll walk you to the door.", he said with sympathy and Peter took the man's outstretched hand without hesitation, using it to rebalance himself every few steps until he was inside the bathroom. Tony waited patiently outside of the door and when Peter was ready they slowly made their way back to the couch, again hand in hand.

Back in the living room, Peter paused, not realizing he was still holding the man's hand. "Can you sit with me, Tony?", he asked after a few moments of quiet hesitation. It seemed like an odd question but despite the fact that the medication was working he still felt pretty bad and really wanted the comfort.

"Sure, kid.", Tony said with a laugh as he let go of the boy's hand in order to toss a pillow to the side. Sitting at the corner of the couch, he propped his feet up on the coffee table and pulled Peter down beside him. It didn't take long for them end up back in the same exact position they'd been in on the Friday prior. Peter tucked into Tony's side, them sharing a large blanket. 

Peter fell asleep first which was no real surprise. He was sick after all. What was surprising was the Tony fell asleep shortly after. Unless he was practically dying he didn't ever go to sleep before one in the morning and it was only three-thirty in the afternoon. Then again, he was sort of trapped at the moment so perhaps that had something to do with it.

A few short hours later, Pepper walked into the suite and immediately noticed the back of her husband's head was leaning heavily on the couch. Wondering what could possibly be going on that would lead to Tony being asleep in the living room, she rounded the corner to take a look. From there it was all made clear and she smiled. "Boys?", she whispered, causing Tony to blink awake while Peter did nothing but wriggle deeper into his side, presumably to avoid being disturbed. "Well, this all looks vaguely familiar. Everything okay?"

"Kid's sick, I had to get him from school.", Tony said as he made an effort to wrap his arm around the boy's shoulders. "It's been a rough afternoon."

Pepper hummed in agreement and leaned down to kiss her husband on the cheek. "He loves you, you know."

"So I've heard.", he said with a smile as Peter began to stir awake. Looking down at him he realized he'd never actually said it back and decided that he should probably remedy that in the near future. Something in him was suddenly telling him that it was important. "Hey, Kiddo. How are you feeling?"

Wiping his hands down his face, Peter sighed. "Hungry, mostly.", he croaked, voice scratchy from being sick and tired.

"If you get off of me, I can go warm you up some soup.", he suggested but Peter made no effort to move other than raising an elbow to stifle a few small coughs. Laughing he looked up at his wife with a pleading smile. "Could you...?"

"Yeah. I've got it.", she said with a small laugh. As if she was going to deny Peter the comfortable position he was in. "Do you want some too?"

Tony nodded in the affirmative and once she was out of sight, he gave Peter a squeeze to get his attention. "I love you, kid. Did you know that?"

Peter looked up at the man and nodded his head. "Mm-hmm. ...but I like hearing you say it.", he said with a small smile before burrowing himself even further into Tony's side. He was going to say more, like maybe how he loved him too and how he was so thankful that he'd come to get him from school but before he could form the words, Pepper was back in the room, passing out bowls.

Not having the capacity or energy to finish what had been served to him, Peter set the bowl aside before he was even halfway through it. "You gonna throw up?", Tony asked setting his own bowl aside in favor of offering any necessary assistance.

Gently laying his head on Tony's lap Peter whined, "No. I just want to sleep."

Looking over at the clock on the wall, Tony sighed. "Medicine first, then sleep, alright?", he said as he rearranged the tired boy onto the couch so that he could go and get the pills and another bottle of water. He would have asked Pepper to do all of that for him but she'd hurried off to get dressed for the business dinner he had been recently excused from attending. While he hated it that Peter was sick, he was unable to stop himself from being happy to have been let off the hook.

Tony quickly returned to Peter, who took the pills and immediately laid his head back down on his thigh. As he smiled down at his miserable kid, he decided it might be time for a real bed. "It's after six... Do you want to go to your room?"

"I want to stay with you.", Peter mumbled while haphazardly grasping around for the blanket that had fallen low on his back. 

"Alright.", Tony replied, pulling the illusive blanket up over Peter's shoulders before beginning to absentmindedly run his fingers through the boy's hair. "...but just so you know. Me and your room aren't mutually exclusive. I can go sit with you in there too." The kid wanting to be directly by his side the entire time he was sick was suddenly making a lot of sense. Apparently feeling awful made Peter clingier than usual... and that was saying something.

The only reply he received was Peter wrapping the blanket even more tightly around his body. After that, Tony continued to mess with his kid's hair while Peter practically leaned into it. There were several minutes of comfortable silence before, Peter spoke up again. "Thank you for taking care of me and staying with me and everything.", he sighed out quietly.

"Of course, Buddy.", Tony said in return, pausing only for a moment before continuing. "I like taking care of you."

Peter managed to turn his head in order to give the man a tired smile. "I like taking care of you too. I'm glad you let me help you when you were sick."

"Well, I guess we can take care of each other.", Tony softly replied before the lines on his face crinkled with mirth. "...but for future reference... _I don't get sick_."


End file.
